And explain to me how that article and similar articles are having an influence on cricket? Its certainly not reducing the amount of T20 matches played.

Either rename this thread "opinions in the media that I disagree with" or actually make points that stick with the contention of your first point.

Well said, as much as I disagree with, I think it is a perfectly valid opinion. I dont know how to react when same people at one hand claim that Cricinfo articles are influenced by BCCI and they dont want to write anything that upsets BCCI and when the same media publishes an article which is critical of IPL and its influence on Test cricket it is termed ad T20 bashing.

Well said, as much as I disagree with, I think it is a perfectly valid opinion. I dont know how to react when same people at one hand claim that Cricinfo articles are influenced by BCCI and they dont want to write anything that upsets BCCI and when the same media publishes an article which is critical of IPL and its influence on Test cricket it is termed ad T20 bashing.

Read the article. There's more content designated to building up the IPL (at the start) than there is bashing it. Most of the piece is about bashing T20 in general. With the same absurd tripe used elsewhere on Cricinfo.

What makes you think that I didn't read the article, I hope you are not reading the same article because the article I read is clearly a critique of IPL. because that link is clearly an anti-IPL article. Here is why :-

In addition to the IPL myths section the author goes at length to make following comments :-

"Domestic coaches say bowlers increasingly go AWOL during the first-class season, and turn up fit for the IPL."

".. the biggest trick the IPL has played is that every year an Indian side wins the most-watched, richest tournament in cricket."

"India's last year in Test cricket - their worst away streak since the '60s - was merely a continuation (you can only hope it was also the culmination) of their scant regard for international cricket since the advent of IPL"

"...the board and the players - chose to not give their best to Test cricket. The choice was simple for Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar: play IPL or the Tests in the West Indies. "

"...in 2010, India landed in the West Indies without any warm-up games, without any time to come together as a team. Later that year they rested almost the whole side for a triangular series in Zimbabwe, and finished third. Nobody chose to not play in the IPL, though."

".. Indian cricketers practically use first-class cricket to fine-tune their IPL skills. "

"Australia and South Africa are playing two-Test series. South Africa have followed New Zealand in giving up the Boxing Day Test. West Indies, partly because of the IPL, and New Zealand entirely because of the clash with it, are not fielding their best teams in Test cricket. India are not interested in giving their best in Tests."

If that is not a criticism of IPL then what is ? Ofcourse any critic of IPL is a criticism of T20 because IPL is played in T20 format.

Onions should be selected. He's never let England down and has already played a few Tests, he's not yet another overhyped ****house Slurry bowler. He should have been selected in the Summer. He took 64 wickets at under 15, he bowls long spells, he can manage heavy workloads and in reality he bowls virtually as quickly as Meaker does. The only thing he's got going against him is he plays for Durham and the hyped nonentity plays for Slurry and has a South African background.

Onions should be selected. He's never let England down and has already played a few Tests, he's not yet another overhyped ****house Slurry bowler. He should have been selected in the Summer. He took 64 wickets at under 15, he bowls long spells, he can manage heavy workloads and in reality he bowls virtually as quickly as Meaker does. The only thing he's got going against him is he plays for Durham and the hyped nonentity plays for Slurry and has a South African background.

Doesn't answer his question. Would you be up in arms if they tried to use their influence to get Onions in the team?

Yes I would be up in arms but it's irrelevant because it doesn't happen. The media regularly **** over players from up here. First Harmison, Collingwood and now Onions. It's total bull**** the way Cricinfo are basically already picking Meaker ahead of Onions purely on some hearsay, if indeed they haven't just taken one look at a scorecard and invented 'struggling for rhythm'. They're not presenting facts, they're not giving the full picture. They're just conjuring up some hearsay in favour of Meaker, pushing his name forward and ignoring everything else that's happened before.

There is no unbiased reporting of the facts, if there were it would clearly go in favour of Onions.

People always like stuff that's shiny and new. Meaker can make it into that great pantheon of bowlers including Amjad Khan, Saj Mahmood, Liam Plunkett (who oddly Scaly liked despite being as bad as any of them) and Darren Pattinson, I look forward to it

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.Walt Whitman

I for one am sure that the Cricinfo writers out in India have far less clue about how the people bowled in the warm up games than Scaly.

Good old marc chiming in with his strawman.

Perhaps you'd like to comment on the accuracy of Cricinfo's in-match commentary and reports on County Cricket. Then think about how likely it is that Cricinfo's journalists - with their recent history of Bopara worship - have watched warm-up games and training properly and written and followed that up with an unbiased report.

I for one am sure that the Cricinfo writers out in India have far less clue about how the people bowled in the warm up games than Scaly.

I for one am sure that this is crap

And smalishah's avatar is the most classy one by far Jan certainly echoes the sentiments of CW

Yeah we don't crap in the first world; most of us would actually have no idea what that was emanating from Ajmal's backside. Why isn't it roses and rainbows like what happens here? PEWS's retort to Ganeshran on Daemon's picture depicting Ajmal's excreta